This invention relates to tire changing apparatus for use in tire mounting and demounting operations as well as bead loosening operations.
Over the years, tire changing apparatus have become increasingly complex for the reason that, as labor costs have escalated, it has become more and more desirable from the economic standpoint to more completely mechanize a changing operation. A greater degree of mechanization minimizes the time required to perform a given tire changing operation and thereby minimizes the labor cost involved.
At the same time, there has been an increase in the varieties of vehicles with the consequence that tire changing apparatus must be increasingly flexible in terms of its ability to handle a large variety of differing wheel sizes, wheel types, tire sizes and tire types.
In many instances, however, a service station or vehicle repair shop will not have sufficient demand for tire changing operations in its day-to-day business to justify the capital expense of a highly sophisticated tire changing apparatus. Nonetheless, such a service station or repair shop must be prepared to perform tire changing operations on any of the wide variety of differing wheels, tires, etc., that it may encounter.
Thus, there is a real need for an inexpensive tire changing apparatus having the capability of performing tire changing operations on the large variety of wheels and tire combinations is used today.